Hello! Enjoy!

Not that everyone needed to know our business, but I felt it at least a good idea to inform the Commander that me and Levi had uh… Checked that important trigger. We had been able to be together again, properly. It wasn't the final trigger, that would be on the field. But at the same time, for the field, my own skill had come a long way since Levi had last served with me – so while I wouldn't be able to fight him off entirely, I wasn't deluded, I would likely be able to struggle with him long enough for someone else to intervene.

Still, Hanji beamed and held me close. She then went to the other side of her desk and touched the middle drawer, but I held her arm and shook my head. We hadn't discussed the ring. It wasn't forbidden between us or anything, but neither of us felt ready. At least, that was my current understanding. We were healing. I fully believed we would return to that point. But not yet. Her smile saddened, but I think she understood. Slow. Small steps. Even so, she held me close and then brought out her fresh plans for our next mission. The weather was looking good, and a fresh delivery of supplies had arrived from the capital. Perhaps now, we could look to the horizon again. To the ocean.

At breakfast, when I explained my meeting with the Commander, Levi's eyes brightened. A new mission. Progress. Having felt like he was holding us all back for so long, I think he was tempted to go prepare his gear and horse that second. I did manage to keep him there for the meal at least. Hanji would have to gather the rest of the troops, and a proper plan laid out. We had the bones of one, but as with every mission that had come before, we couldn't be underprepared.

They had been keeping better track of all deaths within the walls lately, to allow us to try calculating how many new Titans may have been 'birthed' since. The timeframe between a person dying and a Titan being created was tricky. Until we found that source it would be impossible to determine. Still, it was good to have an idea of numbers, especially with Hanji's Titan killer still in action whenever they drew too close to Maria. But beyond those fresh Titan numbers, we also had the uncertainty of the Marleans. And of course, the White Cloaks. There had been no sign of the Marleans for a long while now, we could only assume they were still licking their wounds after Shiganshina. They had hit us hard, but we had stripped them of the Colossal. So they had lost plenty too. And the White Cloaks had endured a few losses thanks to us recently as well.

So naturally, we were likely on everyone's hit list.

But word would be sent to the Queen, plans would be put into place, and maybe at long last we would see that infinite horizon. To ride out beyond Maria would be amazing. Hanji had done it, of course, so had Levi. But so many of the other veterans that had seen those huge plains, were gone already. Buried. Erwin should have been here to see it, to know how much this world of ours had to offer. But we could fight with that in mind, that injustice fuelling us as much as our own determination.

Bloody hell, would you listen to me?

Anyway, the next week became a blur of meetings, preparations and excitement buzzing around the HQ. And of course, Levi throwing himself even harder into his training. One night I caught him tending his gear long after dinner had been served and I had to drag him to the mess hall for some leftovers. But it was just excitement. With only a dash of nervousness. Or so he told me. But he seemed alright, seemed confident. And Eren had continued to work on his control of his Titan with Armin, both of them keen to be in total control for if anything unexpected did arise. Same with me and my own control. Mikasa wasn't keen at first, but I persuaded both her and Sasha to help me work on my Little Bird loophole. If we did come across any White Cloaks who knew my phrasing, we would be ready.

And now the breath before the plunge.

The night before a mission.

I had felt the thrill so many times, the nerves rattling around my body like loose change, the endless list of preparations running along my thoughts like escaped chickens. But it was familiar. I knew this feeling. I wasn't left adrift, waiting for unanswered questions, waiting for a shoe to drop. No. I was gripping that damn shoe and flinging it to the ground. We were going to the ocean.

The morning dawned bright. The horses were eager to go. The Scouts were ready.

We saddled up, readied the wagons and began the journey towards Maria. It was going to be a slow start, a steady journey before that moment of release, but it was good. It was a start. And the excitement rumbled through the whole regiment. To the point that neither Hanji nor Levi objected to the ongoing noise as we continued through the countryside, travelling between villages, always pushing towards that pale grey horizon. Maria. We would be there soon, are you ready for us?

As we set up for our final night of rest before passing over Maria (a new gate was planned, but there hadn't been nearly enough time to even gather the materials, let alone build it), I felt like a soldier again for the first time in a long while. For so long I'd been a victim, in recovery, one half of a broken whole, then a survivor. But now? Now I was me again. Now I was Robyn Sanshi, Scout.

Levi came in from his patrol, our quarters the upstairs in a small Inn on the edge of Shiganshina that Queen Historia had specifically had rebuilt and remodelled for the Scouts to use prior to missions. He took his cloak off and removed his boots. Then he came to where I sat on the edge of the bed and cupped my face, he just stared for a moment, but I knew something was brewing in those eyes. So I stayed still, enjoyed his touch, and kept quiet. A rare occurrence for me maybe, but the safety of our calm was something I was finally getting used to again. Perhaps a risky notion before heading into the unknown, but fuck it, being a Scout was a risky notion.

Finally, he kissed the end of my nose and smiled softly. "Ready for this?"

"Eager."

He chuckled and ran his fingers through my hair. "I can't be sure how it's going to affect me, being out there again. If… If something happens–"

"I'm ready for anything, Levi." I leaned into his touch. "We won't let you lose yourself, none of us. And yes… I know we might need to take stronger actions than I want. But I've prepared myself for all of it. I swear."

"I believe you. I just needed to hear it, I guess." He put his forehead to mine. "I feel fine, normal even… I suppose I'm just uncertain."

"Of course you are. If you suggested otherwise, I'd call bullshit."

He smirked. "Quite right. Now then, let's get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." I winked and laid back, body still fizzing with excitement, but experience allowing my eyelids to grow heavy. Time to get back out there, and find a new horizon for Humanity.

As we readied ourselves, horses lowered on the outside of Maria, the big open sky above and green plains before us, my heart ached. So many good Scouts weren't here to see this that should have been. Petra. Oluo. Gunter. Eld. Nanaba. Mike. And of course Erwin. Countless other names lay before them as well, but those stung deepest for me, tightening my hold on the reins. Levi rode ahead slightly, to the front of our small squad. The formation wasn't what it once was, it couldn't be, but we were rebuilding. We would get back there. If we had to.

Hanji fired the first flare and we all readied for the second. Time to find what lay beyond that horizon, to find those wonders that Armin spoke of from his books. The fields of fire. The Mountains. The Ocean. All of it, waiting to be found again. Just let us get there, find it, see it, know it. Please. Take these broken dolls, scrambling in the dirt and let them know what that true freedom could feel like.

The second flare.

And we were off.

With the excitement, of course, came the nerves. How long had it been since I was on a fully blown mission? At least two months maybe. Last time, back when we had no idea if Levi was alive or not, back when I'd been doing everything in my power to simply make up for his loss. Back when I'd barely been living, only surviving. And now? Now I was healing, moving forward, and he was back at my side. I was ready to find this new world of ours and take it on. And I was well aware that would probably mean inviting a new plethora of dangers as well.

A flare rose into the air, but a green one. Still, the pacing slowed, and as we came across the reason for the flare, my mind wavered between fear and pity. A titan, probably barely seven metres high, but on legs that could not carry it. Slowly it had edged towards the wall, a wake behind it, overgrown with weeds. Wildlife had acclimatised to it. Roots had grown over its back. But still it gnawed onwards.

Now we knew that Titans weren't simply mindless beasts, the whole concept of fighting them had been muddied. More than ever, we wouldn't attack unless provoked. And when we weren't we had to make the kills as clean as possible – to allow those within to return to the human part of the cycle. A cycle we needed to end. Even if that meant death led to nothing but eternal rest, it was better than this. People were in there somewhere, likely driven to eating us on the instinct of being freed from that prison.

Eren stared at it with a strange look, his jaw set tightly. I hadn't had a chance to speak to him about the strange connection supposedly between us, but in that moment I'd wished it was stronger. Still, I went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He jolted back. Like he had been caught doing something wrong.

He cleared his throat. "It's coming from the direction of that wall I saw in my Father's memories." He glared back along the blurred wake. "It's probably a patriot brought over from Marley, punished for wanting freedom from their–"

"So now we free them." I murmured, taking out my blades. He shivered and looked like he wanted to object almost, but it passed quickly and he stepped away. Clearly there was a lot going on in that head these days. Understandable, but we couldn't let Eren get lost. Not now.

The kill was clean and quick. The corpse would be long since evaporated by the time we rode home again, hopefully with no losses on our side, and perhaps that person freely born back into Eldian society. If that was really how it worked. But even if it wasn't, the wake we followed stretched on for so long, and had become so overgrown, it had to have been crawling for decades. If the people within those meaty husks were aware of things at all? They'd be driven mad anyway. I had to see it like that, or else my blade would never raise again, even if one was mindlessly trying to eat me. Even if it meant I died instead. No, we were helping them. I had to believe that.

A new scent caught on the air. Salty. I jolted as another flare rose into the air and we changed course slightly, angling ever so slightly away from the wake of the crawling Titan, but speeding up. Were we close? We'd been riding full pelt for most of the day already. A few sightings had occurred along the way, but mostly the beasts kept their distance, or we managed to avoid them entirely. One Abnormal had needed taken down by the left wing squad, but it was a small one that only took two team members to down it. Simple. The newer recruits were certainly getting an easy time of it.

And just like that, I'd jinxed us.

A glint on the horizon caught my eye. At first I'd wondered if it was water, the endless salted water Armin had spoken of from his books. But no. It moved. It slunk. It watched. My body went cold, my hands frozen solid against the reins as I stared across the plains at that familiar lean frame. The same one I had seen from the top of Shiganshina's wall. The Sword Toothed Titan. So still, so watchful, so menacing. Finally my frozen hands responded and I fumbled, eventually firing the red flare and the formation reacted accordingly. Levi rode close to me and I pointed out the problem, his own flare confirming the sighting. Hanji rode back to us and as we pushed forward, the Sword bastard kept pace. Not ever coming closer, but not letting us out of sight either.

"The hell do they even want?" I snarled, hating how much that thing pierced my heart with fear. It hadn't attacked us. It hadn't come anywhere near. But the simple fact was, it was another unknown. And lately, that just meant more heart-ache, waiting to drop. They weren't on our side, why not make contact if they were? And that likely meant either White Cloaks or Marlean. But they hadn't moved with the Beast Titan at Shiganshina, and there was still no sign of the Marlean Shifters now. Unless the Sword one was alone? Maybe. Possible. But that would make them easier to deal with, so it already seemed unlikely.

Levi was watching it closely, eyes scanning the horizon. A thicket of trees was coming up.

He nodded towards it. "We should make a move now. It's been watching us far too closely for anyone's liking, least of all mine. I fancy knowing who the hell is watching us so damned closely."

"Agreed." I looked towards Hanji. "Permission to head towards the thicket, Commander? Break off with a small squad and–"

"And if it is White Cloaks?" Hanji snapped, frowning at the Sword figure on the horizon. "It feels like a trap. We haven't had cover for hours, and suddenly there's a thicket when we spot this bastard? I don't buy it."

"Neither do I, but otherwise we risk them simply following us to the Ocean, perhaps an area they're already set up at. At least out here we know the drill, we're Scouts. This is our territory."

Hanji paused and then smirked. "Good point. Glad to hear that old Robyn fire crackling."

"Good and hot, Commander." I winked and she fired a flare, the formation shifting towards the thicket.

Then she fired the new grey flare and everyone put their hoods up. I moved closer to Mikasa and Sasha, letting them know the situation. Armin and Eren would stay close to one another, only shifting if needing to, but otherwise staying hidden. Me, Mikasa, Sasha and Levi would head into the trees with Jean, Connie and a few newer recruits. Hopefully we would manage to turn whatever ambush this Sword bastard had planned back on it, but if not, we'd have room to escape as well. Half the formation would take to the trees, the other half staying on the outskirts, still pushing forward. It was often a Scout tactic to use such thickets for refuelling if need be, on longer rides. Nothing suspicious at all. I guess…

Still, it was that or wait for them to throw the shit at the fan, and I was done waiting.

We all were.

We moved towards the thicket, formation reshaping accordingly, letting me and Levi move with our squad into position. The Sword Tooth Titan was the biggest thorn in my side when it came to being out here in the open. We had no idea what kind of threat they were. Domestic? Foreign? Something else entirely? And until we knew, it would knot my stomach every time we saw it on the horizon. And to be honest, I assumed that was its main goal. To unnerve. To unsteady. And I was sick of being caught on the back foot. So as we moved through the dappled forest, seeing animals mill about and nature simply existing without issue, I thought back to the Female Titan mission. When we lost so many because we were caught unawares. That couldn't happen again. As terrifying as the Female Titan had been with her crystallising at will, this beast seemed to already have crystal at the ready. Prepared, no doubt, to tear through our bodies like wet paper.

Too bad for it, we were done being the paper dolls.

Me and Levi headed towards the edges of the trees, the sunlight catching along something moving on the outskirts. Something big. And covered in crystal. We kept to the thicker parts of the canopy, maybe a metre or so taller than the Sword bastard. It was looking for the Scouts. It wasn't sure what was happening. At least, that was the impression it was giving, so it was probably only half the story. Using minimal gas we drew in tighter, the rest of our squad taking a wider arc to avoid the bastard running in the other direction. Closer. Just a little closer. That's it.

The white's of its eyes were on show as it looked eagerly for its prey. Had it planned to attack us this time, instead of simply watching? I couldn't be sure. But it was massive. At least two metres taller than Eren's Titan form, bound in thick muscle, but leaner, built for speed it would seem. Crystal plated along its spine in small spikes, and they clustered along the jawline and mouth. Sword Tooth'd indeed. Its hair was lank, long and dark, hanging limp against pale skin, stretched thin over the strong frame.

A sound flare went off ahead of us, the rest of our team giving us an opening.

And so we moved.

Levi went low, taking out the ankles and knees. I went for the throat, to get a better look at what we were dealing with on the nape. The crystal was present, yes, but it shifted a little. Nowhere near as solid as Annie's had been. Perfect. I made a strike, to test the waters, and found myself enveloped in steam. The beast howled, my own strike and Levi's being perfectly timed with one another. It fell to its knees. A hand grabbed towards the nape. But we had guessed that would be the ploy. So Levi shot up from the knees, taking out the wrist, while I took out the shoulders and armpit joints. The arms fell by the wayside. We had dealt with this kind of bastard before, and while we had no idea what sort of battle experience it had, we had plenty. And we wouldn't underestimate. It howled louder, sounding utterly panicked.

I returned to the nape and found a small opening left behind. It didn't know where to heal first, if it could focus it like Annie had. Maybe it could. Maybe it couldn't. But it didn't matter, because I slammed in for another strike, then another, and another. All the while Levi kept reducing its limbs to useless weight. It could barely wriggle by the time I clasped hold of a shirt collar and heaved, slicing with my blades at the sinew, not bothering to even stop and look at who I was dealing with yet. It didn't matter. We needed them out of their form and subdued. Then we could ask questions. Then we could find out some fucking answers!

A faint wail erupted as they finally came free and I zipped away from the vaporising form, slamming the hilt of my blades against the head now lolling back against my chest as I flew with our prey. Levi fired the signal. The rest of the team came in closer. Our prey was helpless and the rest of the Scouts gathered, creating a perimeter, checking for incoming hordes in case those cries had been another summoning type call like Annie had done. But nothing so far. In fact, it seemed like this was a solo mission.

I landed heavily in the undergrowth, dropping them without much care, allowing Mikasa to step forward and bind them, as well as slip a metal bar between their teeth. We checked for sneaky jewellery like Annie had used, and they were thoroughly searched for any other hidden means of harming themselves and shifting. We covered all bases. And while the team did this, I stood at the side, regaining my breath, settling my nerves. We had been a well-oiled machine. Quick. Decisive. And we had done it. Now I just had to believe it, and let my heart stop skittering. A win. A real win. We had done it, and not lost a single person. A real win. A tangible win.

Levi came to my side, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Good work."

"Thanks, not bad yourself." I smiled and nodded to where the others had dragged our prisoner to a tree to prop them up. "Shall we see who we're dealing with?"

"Sounds good, the Commander just got here."

We went over and as Mikasa finished triple checking the binds, she stepped back and revealed our watchful Sword Toothed Titan.

I froze.

My body tensed all over, disagreeing on which way to run while also wishing to simply lunge forward and scratch those eyes out.

Valerie.

She didn't have her glasses on, but I knew that mouth, that nose. How often it had wrinkled at me, those lips curling round a smile or pulling back as she bared her venomous teeth at me, through bars. It was like the air had been ripped from my lungs. The bitch who day after day had opened me up like a nerve, flaying my resolve, stripping me of every human dignity possible. All while those damned questions. Give us the phrasing. What is the phrase? How far did your father's work go? On and on. Drumming against me like torrential rain on a roof. And then, that final act of brutality. Not only allowing those men into my cell to hurt me, but encouraging it. My mind reeled. My body fizzed. We hadn't seen her since we left the Underground, since we discovered the full extent of the control my phrasing could have. But there she was. In the flesh once again.

Eren shuddered on the other side of the small group and looked to me with wide eyes.

Levi looked between us, frowning. "What's going on?"

The bitch chuckled and shook her head at me, my vision blearing with tears as I struggled to drag in enough air to stop myself spiralling further. Stop it. She's tied up. She's at your mercy. She can't hurt you. Stop panicking. Breathe!

"R-Robyn." Eren choked out, shivering all over now, pale looking and covered in a cold sweat.

Mikasa went to him and eased him to the ground, encouraging him to take deeper breaths, to stop looking over here, to sip the water, to do anything but stare and choke. But he couldn't. And I was why. That connection, whatever made it flare up was in full swing. And as practised as I was at masking such outright terror, Eren wasn't. He was an open book by comparison. And he was feeling all of it, wasn't he? The rage, the hate, but also the total vulnerability, the weakness, the shame.

Levi twigged what was happening and stepped between me and the prisoner. Blocking my view. Replacing it with him, his strong hands on my shoulders, his steady gaze staring into me. I'm okay. Breathe. It's fine. She's tied up, I'm not in a cell, she can't hurt me anymore. Not like she had, anyway. She's not hurting Levi anymore. She's not…

Hanji stepped in close next, face stern. "Robyn? You know this person?"

I nodded and gritted my teeth, closing my eyes for a moment and then forcing them open again as the images flickered into place. No. I'm not there anymore. I'm free. I've been healing dammit. I am in my own element here. Fuck off.

Jean dipped his head. "Pretty sure she was there in the Underground, Commander. Seemed to know Robyn and Captain Levi."

My lips were trembling. "When we were t-taken. She was in charge. Seemed like it anyway." I swallowed and looked to Levi, his own expression clouding in that moment – I don't think he'd fully recognised her yet. I reached and held onto his arms. "But she's not in charge here, she's at our mercy. We have her. Levi, we have her. That bitch. Valerie."

Maybe his mind had tried not to remember her for some reason. He looked down for a moment before glancing back over his shoulder, his grip on my shoulders suddenly tightening to the point of pain. But in all honesty, that small pinch was enough to help ground me further. We had her. Not only did we know that the Sword Toothed Titan was connected to the White Cloaks, it had been our head tormenter during captivity.

And we had her bound and gagged.

Ready to be questioned.

Ready to feel our revenge.

Tad dah, cya next time